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A Settlement Ends Strike By Stagehands At the Apollo

A strike that shut down the Apollo Theater in Harlem for five weeks ended yesterday after management signed a one-year contract with the newly formed bargaining unit that represents the theater's stagehands.

Under the terms of the contract, the stagehands, who are paid $15 to $20 an hour, will get a 5 percent wage increase. For the first time, the employees will receive extra pay for overtime and holidays and receive retirement and health benefits, said officials of Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

The theater's 34 stagehands, who are responsible for lighting, audio and technical operations at the theater, approved the agreement on Friday, said James J. Claffey Jr., the business manager for Local 1 and the leader of the organizing drive.

Mr. Claffey said that he would have preferred a two-year contract, but that the Apollo Theater Foundation, which manages the state-owned theater, wanted a shorter term.

Representative Charles B. Rangel, a Harlem Democrat and the chairman of the nonprofit foundation, was in Puerto Rico yesterday and could not be reached for comment, but his office confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

''The Congressman did sign the labor agreement,'' said James Capel, Mr. Rangel's chief assistant. ''He took an active role in making sure that this happened, because of his longtime role in association with organized labor. He believes that these people should have these benefits.''

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Some of the striking workers had criticized Mr. Rangel during the walkout, saying that he had initially recognized their union but then turned the negotiations over to a lawyer who took a much tougher line. The lawyer, Darrell Gay, did not return telephone calls for comment yesterday.

The stagehands walked off the job on Aug. 24, just days before Inner City Broadcasting Company was scheduled to tape 12 episodes of the television show, ''It's Showtime at the Apollo.''

The taping never took place, Mr. Claffey said. The theater also canceled its weekly Amateur Night performances.

It was not known yesterday when the theater's operations would resume. An assistant to Grace Blake, the executive director of the foundation, said that Ms. Blake had not been told of the agreement.

''It's Showtime at the Apollo'' is at the center of a state investigation of the relationship between the Apollo Theater Foundation and Inner City Broadcasting, the company that produces the program. The State Attorney General's office is trying to determine whether the foundation allowed Inner City, which is owned by Percy E. Sutton, a close friend of Mr. Rangel, to underpay the foundation for the chance to tape the show at the theater.